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EL SEGUNDO \u2014 Lakers star Anthony Davis said after Tuesday\u2019s practice that his left eye is \u201cfine\u201d and that he\u2019ll be available for Wednesday night\u2019s home game against the Memphis Grizzlies.<\/p>\n
ESPN\u2019s Dave McMenamin reported that Davis had his eye examined by an ophthalmologist Monday, with Davis saying he was cleared to play.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing happens next,\u201d Davis said, with his left eye notably red. \u201cI go about my days like I would any other day. There\u2019s nothing I need to do. The next step is getting some more sleep and getting ready for [Wednesday].\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis\u2019 status for the last couple of days was uncertain after he was ruled out early in the fourth quarter of Sunday night\u2019s home win against the Toronto Raptors because of an eye injury he suffered while blocking Raptors center Jakob Poeltl midway through the third.<\/p>\n
Poeltl hit Davis in the eye while Davis was blocking his dunk.<\/p>\n
Davis immediately fell to the court and was writhing in pain before team doctors checked on him. He went to the locker room and didn\u2019t return to the Lakers\u2019 bench for the remainder of the game.<\/p>\n
The All-Star big man suffered a corneal abrasion to his left eye on March 16 last season but played in the Lakers\u2019 next game.<\/p>\n
He also suffered a left eye injury on April 7, which forced him to miss one game.<\/p>\n
Despite the hits to the face and eye, Davis is adamant about not wearing protective eyewear\/goggles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just don\u2019t want to, to be honest,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously, the doctors said I didn\u2019t have to. If it gets to that point where my eye doctor tells me that I need to wear them, then of course I will. But I\u2019ve been cleared to go out and play without them.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Despite trailing 73-70 when Davis exited the game on Sunday, the Lakers won the final 17\u00bd minutes when Davis didn\u2019t play 53-30 en route to a 123-103 victory.<\/p>\n Backup center Jaxson Hayes had 12 points and six rebounds in his 14 minutes on the court after Davis left the game.<\/p>\n \u201cJaxson \u2013 both sides of the ball, just doing his job, putting pressure on the rim offensively, screening, and then his offensive rebounding as well, got us a couple extra possessions,\u201d Lakers coach JJ Redick responded when asked what encouraged him in the minutes Davis wasn\u2019t available. \u201cAnd then he\u2019s had back-to-back defensive games that were outstanding.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The Lakers will have to rely on Hayes even more than originally expected coming into the season.<\/p>\n Redick said on Tuesday that Christian Wood \u201cdeveloped some soreness\u201d during his return-to-play ramp-up from early September left knee surgery, adding that the team is \u201cgoing to scale him back\u201d and that an update on Wood\u2019s status is expected in about four weeks.<\/p>\n Wood hasn\u2019t played since Feb. 14. He was sidelined for a month with what the team initially deemed \u201cleft knee effusion\u201d (swelling), before\u00a0having arthroscopic left knee surgery on March 19 and missing the final two months of the 2023-24 season. The 29-year-old big man\u00a0had another arthroscopic left knee procedure on Sept. 9, with the team initially saying that he\u2019d be reevaluated in about eight weeks \u2013 which was last week.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re very confident in Jaxson,\u201d Redick said. \u201cAnd Christian has picked up our language and terminology and system. So we know that A.D. is maybe not going to play 81 games. So feel confident with both those guys.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lakers, along with East West Bank, hosted a Thanksgiving Feast at the team\u2019s training facility on Tuesday for 100 Crete Academy students.<\/p>\n A Thanksgiving meal, photo station, carnival and shopping experience were part of the evening. The Thanksgiving Feast is the first of three community efforts the Lakers are hosting as part of their \u201cSeason of Giving,\u201d with a turkey distribution and holiday party for underserved community members planned for the future.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all in the daily grind of being a basketball player and it\u2019s kind of cool to kind of get away from it, see all these kids, see the smiles on their faces, how care-free everybody is,\u201d Max Christie said. \u201cJust a reminder to myself and my teammates that it\u2019s bigger the basketball and basketball isn\u2019t the end all, be all.\u201d<\/p>\n When<\/strong>: Wednesday, 7 p.m.<\/p>\n Where<\/strong>: Crypto.com Arena<\/p>\n TV\/radio<\/strong>: ESPN, Spectrum SportsNet\/710 AM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" EL SEGUNDO \u2014 Lakers star Anthony Davis said after Tuesday\u2019s practice that his left eye is \u201cfine\u201d and that he\u2019ll be available for Wednesday night\u2019s home game… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nGIVING BACK<\/h4>\n
GRIZZLIES AT LAKERS<\/h4>\n